Imran promises ‘in-swing yorker’ for opponents

PESHAWAR:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan once again invoked cricket jargon to predict the political demise of his rivals, Shahbaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

Addressing a public rally in Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Imran said that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had made a plan to counter his ‘Haqiqi Azadi [real freedom] movement’ but he had drawn a better plan for the current rulers.

In his speech Imran criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman and former president Asif Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

“The wickets of Shahbaz, Zardari and Fazl are about to fall,” Imran, the former captain of the Pakistan cricket team, said. “For them, I have prepared an in-swing Yorker,” he added. “Rana Sana and Shahbaz Sharif have made a plan for us but they don’t know about my plan.”

Imran told the rally that fresh general elections would be held very soon, in which “the gang of thieves” would be wiped out of politics. “We are going into the elections. Zardari, the Sharif family will be defeated in the elections and they will be thrown out of politics,” he said.

Imran reiterated his oft-repeated allegation that the PTI government was removed through a foreign conspiracy, adding: “Thieves were brought to power, and now it is our duty to remove these thieves and fight for real freedom”.

He told the crowd that Zardari and Nawaz were in power for 10 years and during their tenures there were 400 drone strikes in tribal areas. “We also fought their war and we were attacked by drones because the rulers of that time were slaves,” he added.

These rulers, Imran continued, had been “imposed on us through an external intervention”, adding that their goal was not to reduce inflation, but to end the corruption cases involving Rs1,100 billion. “The youth will have to support me [to get rid of these rulers].”

Read Will give final call when time is ripe: Imran

Criticising the JUI-F chief, Imran said that Fazl ensures the most lucrative department in the coalition government, the Ministry of Communications, for his son, Asad Mahmood. “Money is everything for the current rulers, they come to power to make money,” he said.

“Nawaz Sharif has made a lot of money, the whole lot is making money. In London, where Nawaz Sharif’s family lives, it is the most expensive area of the city. Hasan Nawaz’s house is worth Rs10 billion. Ishaq Dar’s children are [also] living abroad,” the PTI chief told the rally.

Imran alleged that 60% of the ministers in the current federal cabinet were on bail. He appealed to the people he would travel to all over the country for the Haqiqi Azadi Movement, asking them to wait for his call.

He reminded the public that the PTI’s peaceful protest on May 25 was brutally tortured but stressed that “I am prepared now”. He said that Rana Sana and Shehbaz had a plan and “I am also making a plan” to thwart the government’s move.

 Imran mentioned an interview of the prime minister, saying that Shahbaz had said that Imran Khan wanted to appoint the next army chief and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief of his choice. However, he stressed that he wanted appointments only on merit.

“What does Zardari know about merit? If there was merit [in the PPP], Aitzaz Ahsan would have been in a very senior position. K-P Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, Provincial PTI President Pervez Khattak, Shibli Faraz and other leaders were also present at the rally.